Chara named Captain

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara has been named as the club’s Captain, it was announced today by Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli and Head Coach Dave Lewis. Chara becomes the 18th captain in the 82-year history of the team and joins such great Bruins as John Bucyk, Dit Clapper, Milt Schmidt, Cooney Weiland, Terry O’Reilly and Ray Bourque on the club’s all-time captain’s roster.

Chiarelli and Lewis also announced that Patrice Bergeron and Glen Murray have been named as Assistant Captains of the team.

“Zdeno’s leadership qualities have been apparent from the time he joined players for their informal skates prior to training camp,” said Chiarelli. “He leads by example, both on and off of the ice, and he has earned the respect of everyone in our dressing room. He recognizes the leadership abilities of his two assistant captains as well as other players, and he also realizes that every player has strengths that they bring to our team and that bringing those strengths together is crucial to our success.”

Chara becomes just the third Slovakian-born player to wear a captain’s “C” for a National Hockey League team. Peter Stastny (Bratislava, Slovakia) served as the Quebec Nordiques’ captain from 1975-1980 and Stan Mikita (born in Sokolce, Slovakia, but raised in Canada) was a co-captain of the Chicago Blackhawks with Pit Martin from 1975-1977.

Chara, 29, enters his ninth NHL season, his first with the Bruins since signing with the team as a free agent on July 1, 2006. He was drafted by the NY Islanders as their third pick, 56th overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft out of his native Slovakia. He turned professional in 1997 following one season of junior hockey with Prince George of the Western Hockey League. He split his first two pro seasons between the NY Islanders and their AHL affiliates in Kentucky and Lowell, earning AHL All-Rookie Team honors with Kentucky in 1997-98, despite playing just 48 AHL games that season.

Chara is the NHL’s tallest player at 6’9”, and the 260 lb. native of Trencin, Slovakia played four seasons with the Islanders organization before he was traded to Ottawa with Bill Muckalt and New York’s 2001 first round draft pick (Jason Spezza, second overall) for Alexei Yashin on June 23, 2001. He has played the last four NHL seasons with the Senators and has scored ten-or-more goals in three of those seasons, recording career season-highs in goals and points last season with 16 goals and 43 points.

Chara was named a First Team NHL All-Star and a Norris Trophy finalist in 2003-04 and was named a Second Team All-Star and finished fourth in the Norris Trophy balloting in 2005-06. His career NHL totals are 57 goals and 118 assists for 175 points and 901 penalty minutes in 530 career games.